


coins in a fountain

by MostlyFandomTrash



Series: my songfics [5]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: M/M, Seventh Year James Potter, Sixth Year Regulus Black, The Dark Mark, also jegulus is canon king, and it's the longest thing i've ever written in my entire life, gays being gay, james and reg are in a secret relationship and people find out while on the train to hogwarts, listen, right up there with wolfstar, so you guys better enjoy it, this took me two days to write, walburga is a bad parent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-06
Updated: 2019-04-06
Packaged: 2020-01-05 11:30:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,187
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18365120
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MostlyFandomTrash/pseuds/MostlyFandomTrash
Summary: fear is dark but my love is a lantern, shining up like coins in a fountain./or, james potter and regulus black.





	coins in a fountain

**coins in a fountain**

 

/

 

( _ Fear is dark but my love is a lantern _

_ Shining up like coins in a fountain _ )

 

The Mark burned against his forearm where it had been seared into his skin only hours before, and Regulus shifted his weight against his bedroom wall and slid down it to sit with his head against the cool, dark wood, willing himself not to cry. He could still hear his mother's maniacal voice as he lifted both his hands to his hair and tore them through the unusually messy black locks.

 

“Is Master Regulus okay?” His gaze snapped upwards to meet that of his house elf, Kreacher, and the heir gave the servant the smallest smile he could muster. “I'm perfectly fine, thank you, Kreacher. Please leave.”

 

“Yes, Master Regulus.” The elf disappeared in an instant, apparating to some other part of the family's house, and the boy took a deep breath, attempting to calm himself down enough to maybe owl Sirius --  _ no, Mother and Father read all the letters that get sent by our owls, I can't do that  _ \-- or maybe he could do what Sirius did and Floo to James’ in the middle of the night.

 

No! He had a Dark Mark on his arm, he couldn't just appear in the middle of his. . . whatever-the-hell-he-and-James-were-to-each-other's living room in the dead of the night; he'd probably be sent away, anyhow.

 

Regulus didn't know what to do. He couldn't owl his brother or most of his friends (they had probably gotten Dark Marks as well; he knew for a fact that his cousin, Bellatrix, had) and he also couldn't run away (he wasn't brave enough for that, anyways, he knew).

 

The only thing he did know? Well, that's easy. The only thing he did know, was that James was going to fucking kill him when he found out.

 

/

 

( _ Hope is a tree sitting on a mountain where the grass don’t grow _

_ There’s a sad old sea but my love is an island _ )

 

James winced as he heard the sound of something breaking and he maneuvered his broom downwards to see just where his adopted brother had crash landed during their makeshift quidditch match in his backyard. As his feet hit the ground, he noticed Sirius laying on his back in what used to be his mother's gardening shed and he walked over slowly. “Padfoot? You still breathing over here?”

 

The other boy cursed, loudly, in what his friend thought sounded like Greek, and pushed himself up into a sitting position to glare at said friend. “Look at what I did to Mum's shed! She's going to kill me, Prongs; why did you make me try and play Quidditch with you?”

 

The Potter boy shrugged lightly as he made his way the rest of the distance and held out his hands to Sirius. “You're the one who doesn't know how to fly a broom, mate. Sounds more like your fault than mine.” He paused and stepped back after the other boy was to his feet. “Come on, I'm sure there's a spell or something to fix or rebuild it.”

 

Sirius rolled his eyes at the words, but jogged to catch up with his best friend nevertheless, slinging an arm over James’ shoulder as they walked back to the house.

 

“Oi, Mum! Sirius broke your shed!” / “It was all James's fault, Mum!”

 

Euphemia sighed, and shook her head lightly. These boys --  _ her boys _ \-- seemed like they would destroy everything in their path, if they so choose. But, they would never choose in such a way; they were too good natured for a life like that.

 

/

 

( _ Wild and free like the hills in the highlands _

_ Hope is a breeze that brings me back to dry land _ )

 

“I've only done this five times already, you know.” The now Sixth Year muttered under his breath as Walburga reached over to straighten his uniform’s tie for what may have very well been the millionth time since they arrived at King's Cross, the woman's eyes searching for something over his head as she did so. Her gaze came downward to meet the gray eyed one of her youngest --  _ her only, now _ \-- son. “What was that, Regulus?”

 

“Nothing, Mother, just that I wish the train would get here sooner.” It was only half a lie; he did wish the train would get here sooner. The train getting here sooner meant the quicker he could get away and go find Barty and they could play a few games of Exploding Snap in a compartment by themselves while they waited to get back to the castle. The train getting here sooner also meant that he would need to think if some ways to avoid his brother and his friends.

 

There was a moment of disbelief that crossed his mother's face as she took a step back to survey the boy in front of her, and he willed himself not to move very much with her gaze on him until the look passed. “Yes, of course.”

 

There was a sudden shout of, “Oi, Moony! When the hell did you get so  _ tall _ ?” from behind him, and Regulus turned his head back slightly to see Sirius almost tackle poor Remus Lupin to the ground in what he thought was a hug, but wasn't exactly sure about, because the now taller boy shoved him away lightly, saying something quietly, and he watched his brother wince and seemingly apologize. 

 

He then watched as James and Peter Pettigrew walked quickly up to the other two boys and they all started talking surprisingly quiet. . . or, what was considered quiet in the middle of a train station. Still keeping his gaze on the group, he noticed Sirius looking around and stopping with his gaze on his little brother.

 

Grey eyes met grey eyes, and the only reason Regulus looked away first was his mother's sharp tug on his arm. When Walburga opened her mouth to reprimand him for whatever it was he had done to make her mad in the last five or so minutes he'd been looking around at the other students, her entire sentence was cut off by the a rival of the Hogwarts Express, and the boy was thankful for a few seconds, because it meant that he could finally get away.

 

“Goodbye, Mother.”

 

He waved his wand at his trunk and levitated it slightly off the ground so he could pull it into the train without damaging it, rushing to get on before his mother had the time to react or reply to him.

 

/

 

( _ Where the flowers grow _

_ Love is a baby born _ )

 

The four of them had walked into the first empty compartment they came to, Sirius and James propping their feet up on James’ trunk with Peter taking the seat opposite of them, while Remus took a seat on the floor and began to dig through his bag.

 

“What’cha looking for over there, Moons?” James questioned and leaned forward some to watch his friend with a raised eyebrow. The werewolf glanced up at him for half a second before pulling an entire box of chocolate from the bottom of his bag. Then, as he was opening the box, Remus simply responded, “Chocolate.”

 

His friends laughed and they might would’ve started playing a game of Exploding Snap, if not for the way the door to their compartment opened suddenly. All of the boys looked up and, after taking a few seconds to realize who was standing in the hallway outside of their room, James scowled. “What do you want, Snivellus?”

 

“You need to come with me.” Despite the fact that all of them had hated each other for going on seven years now, the frantic look in Severus’ eyes cause Remus to frown softly. “And, pray tell, why in the name of Merlin would we do that?”

 

The Slytherin boy paused for a moment, and then he turned his gaze to lock onto Sirius’. “It’s Regulus. Something’s happened to Regulus.” The older Black boy was out of his seat before the pale boy even finished his sentence.

 

“Where is he? Take me there.” Another pause, and Sirius seemed to growl. “ _ Now. _ ”

 

Snape nodded quickly and began to walk back the way he came, the former heir following after him for a few seconds before the rest of the Marauders jumped up and went as well. James had to stop himself from rushing to catch up with Sirius more that he already had.

 

/

 

( _ Love is the last unicorn _

_ Love is the only song I’ll sing _ )

 

Barty was leaning over him, watching the way his eyes closed tightly and he curled in on himself more the closer they got to the school, and the Sixth Year Slytherin boy jumped slightly as the door slammed open, revealing a softly cursing Sirius Black with the rest of his gang standing a bit behind him.

 

The Gryffindor came into the compartment  fell to his knees next to his younger brother, muttering quiet things that seemed like they were supposed to calm the boy down. Regulus only whimpered softly and pressed his forehead against his brother’s knees. “Regulus? Reg, what’s the matter?”

 

“I’m going to explode, ‘Ris.” He whispered softly, and twisted one of his hand against Sirius’ shirt tightly. His voice sounded something like a cross between a soft sob and a hoarse scream. “I’m. . . I’m going to. . . to explode. Make it stop, Sirius, make it stop.”

 

“I don’t understand,” his older brother mumbled, and began to run his hands through Regulus’ surprisingly long hair as the boy shook with something that could’ve been akin to fear. It was the way he used to shake when they were younger and Father had some kind of bad day at work, and Sirius had done something to upset Mother, and he was scared that they were both going to get locked in the kitchen cellar. “Why are you going to explode?”

 

“The wards,” he choked out, “the wards, they're are going to make me  _ explode _ !”

 

“Don’t be stupid, Reg. The wards are only there to keep out Death-”

 

/

 

( _ Hate is a poison _

_ Love is a remedy _ )

 

“Death Eaters.” James finished, eyes locked onto the pair of brothers as Regulus shook his head, another sob breaking it’s way past his lips. “The wards are only there to keep Death Eaters out of the school.”

 

“Regulus, you didn’t. . .”

 

“She was going to kill me, Sirius!” His voice had increased in volume, and his eyes finally snapped open to meet his brother’s, grey meeting grey. When the older boy didn’t say anything, the younger one turned his gaze towards James. “Mother was going to kill me, if I didn’t take the Mark. I had no choice.”

 

“You. . .” Tearing his hands through his hair, Sirius stood up swiftly. “I’ll be right back, don’t go anywhere, Regulus Arcturus.”

 

“Where are you going?” James heard Remus ask their friend, and glanced over to see him holding on the Sirius’ arm. The older of the Black brothers was scowling slightly as he yanked it out of the werewolf's grip.

 

“To get my cousin. I know Bellatrix got the Dark Mark, too, and no one said anything about her writhing in pain on the floor. If anyone should be in this kind of pain for being. . . one of  _ them _ , it should be her, not Regulus.”

 

/

 

( _ Singing out like the sweetest of melodies _

_ Hope is a ghost in the deepest of memories _ )

 

“I'm going to see if there's a spell in one of the textbooks to take away someone's pain,” Remus said, starting back to their own compartment with Peter trailing behind him. They both turned to stare at James.

 

“You coming, Prongs?” The shortest of the Marauders questioned as the other boy didn't move more than an inch in either direction.

 

He shook his head, softly. “Nah. Think I'll wait for Sirius to get back.” A pause, and they both watched James swallow thickly. “Come back if you find anything, yeah?”

 

“'Course we will. See you in a bit.” Before Peter could ask him anymore seemingly personal questions, the werewolf grabbed his arm and started pulling him back towards their compartment.

 

“What do you think that was about?” He heard him ask Remus, and then he heard Remus sigh, something he did when he wasn't sure. “James will tell us when he tells us. Come on, let's go find a spell to help.”

  
  
  


/

 

( _ Stronger than ten of me _

_ Fear is the enemy _ )

 

Regulus, in all the time it took for Sirius and Remus and Peter to leave, had curled more into himself on the floor and pressing his back against the wall, almost looking like he just wanted to disappear. He had closed his eyes again by the time James decided to come into the compartment, and lowered himself down next to his -- you know what? He didn't think he cared anymore  --  _ boyfriend's _ head, reaching over to run his fingers through the younger boy's hair. “Hey there, Starlight.”

 

A light mumble was all the Seventh Year received in response, but Regulus had shifted to where his head was pressed against the side of the other boy's leg. It was silent for a moment, before it seemed like he had found the strength to speak. “It hurts, James. It hurts so bad.”

 

“I know it does, Reg. But, you'll be fine; you're always fine and I'm pretty sure you've endured worse pain than this. . .at least, from what Sirius told me when he ran away.” Another pause from the older boy, this time long enough for the younger to slip open his eyes to meet the other's dark brown ones. “You'll be fine, Regulus.”

 

“You don't, know that.” A sharp intake of breath, his body tensed up and James’ fingers stopped moving against his scalp. “For all you know, I could be -” His hands came up suddenly to curl in his own hair, and the older boy pried them away gently after a few moments of this, holding one of them in his own lightly. “For all you know, Potter, I could be dying.”

 

“As if I'd let you die before you get to Seventh Year.” / “I'm surprised you didn't die before you got to Seventh Year.” / “How rude. And, here I thought you loved me Regulus.” / “I shall neither confirm nor deny that fact.”

 

/

 

( _ In the dark and it creeps like a shark _

_ In the coldest sea _ )

 

“You wound me, Reg. Really.” The Head Boy muttered quietly, and he felt Regulus pull his hand away without giving him a response, as Sirius and Bellatrix appeared in front of them in the compartment’s doorway. He stopped himself from sighing and turned his attention to his best friend, who now looked more than a little annoyed at having to go find the girl next to him.

 

“Where did Remus and Peter go?” The paler boy questioned, almost not raising his eyebrow at the sight of his best friend and his brother so close together before him. “And why are you on the floor?”

 

“Remus wanted to go see if he could find a pain reducing spell and Peter went to help him, Barty disappeared around the same time you did to go find her, and I was the only one left, so I figured I'd keep him company while we waited for you two to get here.”

 

From beside her cousin, Bellatrix scowled and pushed harshly past Sirius to kneel next to Regulus, frowning softly. She looked, almost, sad, and  James had to stop himself from telling her to get away from him, from telling her not to touch him. “This isn’t the wards doing this, this is something else.”

 

“And, just how do you know that?” The other Black questioned, eyes following his older cousin’s every movement as she knelt next to the only real blood family he had left (James knew that Sirius had barely spoke to Regulus, after that one time in the halls that both boys had told him about after it happened; but, the point still stood that if anything were to happen to his younger brother, Sirius Black would tear the world apart with his bare hands to get him back, and James knew that he would help him).

 

“Because, old Professor Dumbledore didn’t think to protect the school against children. The wards only work against adult Death Eaters. This, whatever this is that’s happening to our little star, has nothing to do with his wards.”

 

/

 

( _ In the deepest part but _

_ Hope is the beat in the oldest heart _

_ A hand in a hand and a brand new start _ )

 

“So,” The boy sitting on the floor started, softly, “you can’t do anything to help him, then?” Both members of the Black family stared down at him for a moment, before Sirius blinked slowly at the smaller form next to him.

 

“I think he’s asleep.”

 

James turned his gaze to the side, letting it land on the head of messy dark hair the top of which had been pressed against the side of his leg for the last ten minutes. Regulus, eyes closed and breathing much more regularly now, wasn’t trembling anymore and had somehow fallen asleep when no one was paying attention to him.

 

Bellatrix sighed loudly and both boys watched as she rolled her eyes and got up off the floor, turning to Sirius with a scowl. “Are you telling me that you came and took me out of the company of my friends for nothing?”

 

“Oh, please, Bella. You can go back to eating Rodolphus’ face now, if you’d like.”

 

With one last scowl sent in her cousin’s direction, the older woman turned and stormed back towards her original compartment. Sirius let his eyes wander down to James, who hadn’t exactly taken his eyes off of Regulus since they’d figured out he’d fallen asleep.

 

“Oi, Prongs!” The boy looked up suddenly, like he’d forgotten Sirius was there in the first place.

 

“Yeah, Pads? What is it?”

 

“We’re not leaving him here alone, especially since we don’t know where that Crouch kid ran off to. Help me carry him back to ours, yeah?”

 

/

 

( _ Love is a fireside _

_ Warm on the coldest of nights _ )

 

When Regulus woke up, three things had changed: he wasn’t in the same compartment he’d fallen asleep in, the pain that had been laced throughout his entire body had seemingly gone away, and he was leaning sideways against something (someone?) warm. Just as his eyes blinked open, there was a loud crashing sound, and he was met with the sight of his older brother, Remus, and Peter’s tower of Exploding Snap cards crashing to the floor.

 

“Hey,” came a voice from next to him (so, he was definitely leaning against a someone, and he had a fairly good idea of who), and Sirius glanced over, lifting his gaze to his friend’s. “I think Reg is awake.”

 

“Reg is awake, and you’re all terribly loud.” The boy in question said quietly, though he still spoke loud enough for all of them to hear him, and turned his head against James’ shoulder. “It’s really bright in here.”

 

A laugh came from his brother, and he chanced a look at the older boy, who was smiling at him in a light manner. “It’s like he has a hangover, but it’s a. . . weird kind of hangover.”

 

“It’s a pain hangover.” Regulus muttered softly, and decided that he’d much rather be at school right now then having this conversation. He turned his to the male next to him. “Have I been sleeping on you this entire time?”

 

“Yeah, pretty much since we brought you in here.” He responded, and began to tap a pattern on the back of the younger boy’s hand. “You kind of just grabbed onto to my arm when me and Sirius put you down, so I’ve just been here.”

 

“Oh. Sorry?”

 

“You’re fine, Reg. I didn’t mind.”

 

/

 

( _ Love is the only song I’ll sing, oh _

_ Love is the truest of words and _ )

 

Turning his head away from James’ shoulder, the Sixth Year started to watch his brother and his brother’s friends restart their card tower, and he laughed out loud as it collapsed again, this time onto Sirius. The older of the brothers turned and sent him a glare, but Regulus just grinned back at him. “You’re supposed to  _ love  _ me, Reggie!”

 

“No, Ris, I’m only supposed to  _ tolerate  _ you; there’s no requirement for me to love you.” Still grinning, the boy leaned back against the wall, and his brother threw one of the cards at him. He ducked and laughed again. “Hey!”

 

“Hi.” / “You’re an idiot.” / “No, I’m a Sirius.” / “And, I’m a Regulus. What’s your point?”

 

The other boys watched them interact, and when Sirius leaned over to ruffle his younger brother’s hair, and Regulus ducked out of the way, swatting his hand back, they laughed.

 

Suddenly the train whistle blew, signaling to the students and teachers aboard that they were nearing the school, and that they should get ready to disembark. The Slytherin boy glanced down at himself and cursed out loud, and his brother grinned over at him. “What the matter, Reggie?”

 

“All my stuff is back in the other compartment!” Pushing himself to his feet, perhaps a little too quickly, and swaying slightly from side to side. Shaking his head slowly to get rid of the spell of dizziness, he took a few steps towards the door. “I'll be right back.”

 

/

 

( _ Love is the last winter bird and _

_ Love is the only song I’ll sing _ )

 

It took only a few moments for the door behind him to open again, and for James Potter to step out of it. The taller boy leaned back through the door for a moment, before stepping all the way out of the compartment, and shutting it behind him. He turned to Regulus and grinned, softly. “Hey there, Starlight.”

 

“Hey, Jamie.” The boy responded, and reached over to grab his wrist lightly, pulling him in the direction of what had been Regulus and Barty's compartment, at the beginning of the day, only to find it empty of everything expect a trunk, pushed against the far wall.

 

Stepping over and lifting the latch, Regulus leaned down and started to dig through the trunk’s contents, while James leaned against the doorframe to watch him for a few moments before he spoke. “I thought you just needed your robes?”

 

“Yeah, well,” the younger Slytherin started, and turned his head back to smile at him softly. Then, he finally seemed to find what he'd been digging for; it was a small box with some string tied around it. He handed it over to James, and finished his sentence quietly. “I might have made you something?”

 

Glancing down at the box, and looking for the best way to open said box, the older boy almost didn't notice when Regulus finally found his uniform, and slipped it over his head, turning back to James with a small grin and latching his trunk back.

 

/

 

( _ Oh I’ll sing _ _   
_ _ 'Til I can’t sing no more _ )

 

“What is it?” The Gryffindor asked quietly on their way back to his friends, and Regulus just smiled again. “Why don't you open it and find out, Potter?”

 

Stopping in the middle of the train's hallway, James started to tug at the string that had been wrapped around the box, and, when he eventually got all of it off and stuck wad of string into his pocket, he began to attempt to open the box itself. After watching him for a few moments, the other boy rolled his eyes and took the box, using one of his fingernails to split the tape and handing it back.

 

“Thank you, love.” / “You know, Sirius and Remus and Peter are going to wonder if we somehow died on our way there and back if you don't the hell hurry up.” / “Shut up.” / “You're cute when you're annoyed.” / “Shut up, Regulus.”

 

When he finally --  _ finally  _ \-- got the box opened, James reached in and pulled out a small square of canvas, blinking slowly as if that would bring it into focus faster. His vision cleared after a few seconds, and the boy found himself staring at a (non-moving) painting of a Snitch, it's wings seemingly buzzing, with the words 'Catch Me’ written in a script underneath it. “You made this? You can paint?”

 

“I can also play the piano, but that would've been much hard to put in a box and store in my trunk. And, a bit excessive, in my opinion.”

 

“Thanks, Reg.” The older male gave him a soft smile and leaned over to press his lips against the shorter one's forehead. Regulus just smiled, and stepped back. “Come on, let's go make sure no one died.”

 

/

 

( _ Oh I’ll sing _ _   
_ _ Til my throat is sore _ )

 

“So, James. . .” / “Yeah, Sirius?”

 

There a was a pause, and the Seventh Year dorm was quiet for a few moments, save for the sounds of Remus and Peter's steady breathing from the beds next to them.

 

“When were you going to tell me that you're snogging my baby brother?”

 

/

 

**fin.**


End file.
